Student Union
Florida Students Against Gun Violence Making an Impact
Students from the high school where 17 people were shot and killed last month have created a grassroots movement over gun violence that has spread across the United States.
“#NeverAgain: Pick up a pen,” reads a tweet by @NeverAgainMSD, an organization of students using social media to raise awareness about gun violence in the United States. “Write a letter(s) (handwritten or typed) directed to the White House and the President.”
MSD stands for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which was attacked by a young man using an assault rifle Feb. 14. Since then, MSD high school students have rapidly turned that tragedy into an organized political movement.
“Include experiences and what you wish to see changed *Submit copies of the same letter or submit multiple letters 2) Put the sealed letter(s) in an envelope with your name and the words “White House” on the outside. 3) Leave the letters at your school’s designated drop box.”
MSD student activists have focused on the National Rifle Association, a highly influential political lobbying organization that defends the rights of Americans to carry guns.
Measuring impact
The students have had success in pressuring some companies to publicly cut their ties with NRA partnerships. Major American retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart, LL Bean, REI and Kroger, which sold assault rifles, said they would take them off the shelves.
Dick’s and Walmart said they would not sell weapons to anyone younger than 21, as well. Walmart also said it would remove items from its website that look like assault weapons, such as pellet guns and toys.
“To all companies who severed ties with the NRA, those personally affected by their influence on legislation thank you,” tweeted Emma Gonzalez, a student activist from MSD who spoke out soon after the mass shooting.
Despite the students’ success in drawing attention from retailers and the news media, their impact on lawmakers remains unclear.
On the federal level, the Republican-held Congress is considering a bill called STOP School Violence Act that grants $50 million to schools for training and reporting, but does not address gun control directly. In the Senate, a vote on gun control this week has been delayed. And although President Trump made comments last week that seemed to indicate he supported tighter restrictions on gun sales that have been opposed by the NRA, it’s not clear that it is leading to any substantive change in federal gun laws.
There have been stronger indications that some U.S. states may move forward with gun restrictions.Florida’s governor signed new legislation that tightens gun control regulations, and allows for armed school staff members.
Social media amplifies message
The students’ massive following on social media have emerged as a powerful tool in their movement. Gonzalez, or @Emma4Change, has more than 1 million followers on Twitter, more than @NRA’s 608,000.
David Hogg, another MSD student activist — @davidhogg111 — has nearly 430,000 followers, mostly since the Feb. 14 shooting. Their school’s #NeverAgain movement Twitter account, a hub of students organizing rallies, has about 140,000 followers.
That exposure has allowed students to raise money and received guidance from well-established organizations, like Everytown for Gun Safety and The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, that started out as grassroots efforts against gun violence.
Celebrities like George and Amal Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, and Jeffrey and Marilyn Katzenberg each donated $500,000 to the #NeverAgain activists and the March for Our Lives, according to a report from Time’s Money section.
“#studentsstandup and we will continue to follow. You are a beacon of strength,” wrote Josh Gad, an actor in “Book of Mormon” and “Frozen,” on Twitter.
“These kids are asking the hard questions and being persistent in a way that should have been done by the adults years ago. #studentsstandup,” tweeted Liz Froment — @LFroment — a business writer in Boston.
For all of the support they have received on social media, there are vocal critics.
Collins Idehen, a gun-rights advocate and attorney who hosts a program on NRA TV, criticized the students on a channel that claims an online audience of more than 1.3 million.
“We somehow have devolved so far in this country that we literally blame gun owners for these shootings...Y’all insist on only having the conversation with yourselves & waging war with #NRA. You’re not waging war against a machine. You’re waging war against people.”
Despite the criticism, a major measure of the student’s reach comes Wednesday, when students across the United States are planning to walk out or school and hold rallies in support of more restrictions on guns, to try to prevent the next mass shooting.
See all News Updates of the Day
- By VOA News
Indian newspaper offers tips for US-bound students
Telangana Today, a newspaper in India, offers a list of tips and resources for students planning to study in the United States.
Among them:
- Prepare for your travel to the U.S., making sure to gather all necessary documents, including your passport and visa.
- Be sure to attend orientations.
- By VOA News
Michigan State international students get their own space
Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, is setting aside a space in the International Center for international students.
Nidal Dajani, vice president of the school's International Student Association, said that the club plans to use the space to host events and hopes to collaborate with other student groups.
- By Dylan Ebs
International students find community during Pride Month
For LGBTQ+ international students, Pride Month, observed in June, is a unique time to reflect.
They hold on to multiple identities — both their LGBTQ+ identity and their cultural background — but coming to terms with them is not always easy.
For graduate student David Zhou, these identities can feel conflicting as transgender rights in China remain a controversial issue and spaces for LGBTQ people close. Zhou, 25, is transgender and pursuing an education in the STEM field at an urban university in the Midwestern United States.
VOA is using a pseudonym for Zhou’s first name and is not naming his university to protect his identity due to safety concerns back home in China. Zhou is not open about his transgender identity to his family.
During Pride Month, Zhou said he attended multiple LGBTQ+ events in his community and is surrounded by a supportive group of LGBTQ+ students who can relate to his experiences. But he’s not open about his identity to everyone on campus and said he doesn’t disclose his preferred pronouns to everyone to avoid transphobic comments.
“I feel like I have to make some judgments of the character of that person to see if they’re a good person to disclose [my identity] to,” Zhou said.
Zhou’s Pride Month celebrations included attending local markets with LGBTQ+ vendors and hanging out with his LGBTQ+ friends.
“They normalized being trans and for a long time I feel like trans identity is, should I say a vulnerability, brings me fear and worrying about discrimination, but having those events are helpful because it allowed me to see that queer people could just [live] openly,” he said.
At social events where few international students are present, Zhou said it can be tough to fit in.
“There's a lot of times like when they were talking about things I kind of, don't really understand, mostly because I kind of lack some background experience or knowledge,” he said.
Zhou said he is not aware of specific groups for LGBTQ+ international students at his university, but said international students are more prevalent in graduate programs and therefore find representation in organizations for LGBTQ+ graduate students.
In China, transgender individuals must obtain consent from an “immediate family member,” even for adults hoping to transition, which critics say limits the autonomy of transgender individuals while supporters say the policy protects doctors from violence by upset parents.
Struby Struble, a former coordinator of the University of Missouri LGBTQ+ Resource Center, told NAFSA: Association of International Educators in 2015 that LGBTQ+ international students face a “double barrier” on campus.
“With their international student friends, they feel isolated because they’re the LGBT one,” she said. “But then among the LGBT students on campus, they feel isolated because they’re the international one.”
Nick Martin, associate director of the Q Center, Binghamton University’s LGBTQ+ student support office, said when international students tour the center, there’s often a sense of hesitation as they enter a type of space that may not be present in their home country.
“I compare that to a year in after they've come into the space, they've again, maybe come to some of our events, they've got more connected,” he said.
Martin said graduate students have a unique interest in the Q Center as they may use the office for research and advocacy purposes that align with their studies.
“For older students, there may be hesitancy in a different way, but I think it's more in the vein of they want to do some of the advocacy work,” he said.
Martin said he thinks about how both his office and BU’s international student office can support students who come from countries with few — if any — protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.
“It's been a learning process of what those students really need, but I think I've kind of learned that a lot of students are just looking for the safe space that we offer,” Martin said.
- By VOA News
International students discuss US campus culture shock
International students at De Anza College in Cupertino, California, talked about culture shock in an article in La Voz News, the student newspaper.
"It felt like a major culture shock. Everything was so different, from academics to mannerism," said a student from Mexico.
Read the full story here.
These are the most expensive schools in the US
High tuition costs along with housing and food expenses can add up for students at U.S. colleges and universities.
MSNBC looked at the most expensive schools in the country, with one costing more than $500,000 for a bachelor’s degree. (June 2024)
